Warning: This story contains disturbing details about a sexual assault.
A 56-year-old Burnaby man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison after he picked up a teenage girl waiting for a bus, drove her to his home, raped her and then sent her photo to a chat group, bragging she "took it like a champ."
Prakash Lekhraj, who also goes by Paul Lekhraj, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault and one count of making or publishing child pornography after a trial last November.
He was sentenced in September to three years and three months in prison and ordered to be on the national sex offender registry for 20 years.
Crown prosecutor Mark Myhre had called for a prison term in the range of four to five years, saying the sentence needed to send a message to Lekhraj, the members of his chat group and anyone else who hears about the case.
"The court should be communicating that this would be the biggest mistake of somebody’s life," Myhre said at the September sentencing hearing.
He noted Lekhraj was sober when he picked up his victim, who had been waiting for a bus in the early morning hours of Aug. 23, 2020.
"Like so many teenagers that get assaulted, she gets into a situation and she doesn't know how to get out of it," Myhre said, "and Mr. Lekhraj runs with that vulnerability."
Given the context, Myhre called the messages Lekhraj sent to his chat group "truly despicable."
He noted Lekhraj had a criminal record, including a conviction for living off the avails of prostitution in 1995.
Myhre acknowledged the record was dated but said "that offence treats a woman as an object: this offence treats a woman as an object."
B.C. provincial court Judge Ellen Gordon said it showed "an attitude toward women that has continued for decades."
But defence lawyer T. Paisana said his client wasn't the "monster or predator" Myhre made him out to be.
Paisana said Lekhraj was a devoted son, who cared for his mother during her final struggle with advanced dementia, and an entrepreneur, who has established a successful moving company after overcoming an abusive childhood.
A forensic psychologist had also found Lekhraj was a low risk to re-offend.
"The expert is telling us he’s not someone you need to be concerned about," Paisana said.
He said Lekhraj should spend a two-year sentence in the community with three years of probation, which would keep him under court supervision for longer than a federal sentence.
But Judge Gordon said a conditional sentence was not appropriate in the case.
She cited a Supreme Court of Canada decision that concluded sentences for such crimes must increase and the harm they leave in their wake must be addressed.
In her ruling, Gordon noted Lekhraj had told the court at trial that he "never needs to seek the consent of a female to have sexual relations with her."
Gordon said Lekhraj has led a "relatively upstanding life" this millennium but described the sexual assault, which included anal and vaginal penetration, as "profound."
"He had to have seen her vulnerability," Gordon said. "It would have been impossible to miss."
Lekhraj had applied to have the case thrown out because of court delays.
His trial didn't start until 45 days after the 18-month ceiling set for provincial court trials had elapsed.
But Gordon dismissed Lekhraj's application, saying the delay had been caused by an "exceptional event" that was unforeseen and couldn't be easily remedied.
The victim, who cannot be named because of a publication ban, could not testify in March 2023, when the case was first set to go to trial, because she was too emotionally fragile after her boyfriend broke up with her shortly before she was to take the stand, according to Gordon.
Lekhraj is appealing his conviction.
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